A Lily's Final Petal
by Diabolikal Luna
Summary: This is my version of the Lily and James story. Make friends with Roxy and Vicky, as Lily shows you her life. Fluffy, dark and funny.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One:**

**An Unlikely Pair**

A red head bobbed about in a vast crowd of people who were all rushing about maniacally along the platforms of a busy railway station. A hand beckoned someone towards her and two bodies collided into a long hug.

"I've missed you," the redheaded girl said, as she released her friend from the embrace.

"Great to see you too, Lils. A hi, would have done!" her friend joked and the girl turned to the three muggles that had arrived shortly after Lily.

Lily looked back at her parents, who were looking around as interestedly as they did every September. She scanned the crowds with her emerald eyes, looking for more familiar faces. She was already dressed in her school uniform; it looked crisp and new. A shiny Head Girl badge rested above a material, Gryffindor crest.

"I'm not allowed to hug my best friend, Roxy?" she smiled sweetly at her friend who was a good inch taller than herself, brown eyed and had hair that seemed to change from a golden brown to dark.

Her father pulled her trunk beside her and Lily looked around excitedly and then back to the people who were still around her. Lily's mother pulled her into a long hug and her father winked.

"Be good, Lily," her mother spoke, as she was released from the hug that had nearly crushed her insides.

"Be happy," her father instructed Lily and nudged the older girl that had arrived with them, who flinched every time someone came close enough to touch her.

"Don't come home unless it's necessary," she hissed.

Lily smiled. "I know you love me really, Pertunia," she attempted to hug her sister but wasn't given the chance.

"Good bye, dear," her mother hugged her one last time and began to drag Lily's older sister away-- scolding her as she went.

"And no boyfriends," her dad joked, as he left and Lily blushed slightly from annoyance.

"So—have your parents left?" Lily asked, looking around for Roxy's parents.

"Never came," she shrugged. "They get scared of places like this."

"Like my sister then—just nicer!" Lily informed Roxy with a smile.

"So," Roxy looked across at her friend and her eyes rested on the badge. "Head Girl. Once again, congratulations,"

she took a small step forward and pulled at her trunk.

"Yep. Fantastic. I hope Remus is Head Boy. He's by far the best for the job and I don't think I could handle it if it was Severus, Ernie or Craig. To—" but she couldn't think of the correct word.

"Different?" Roxy offered.

"Difficult, is more like it." Lily turned to look at the train.

The Hogwarts Express was a large scarlet train, which puffed out steam from the front. It had been taking students from London to Hogwarts for years and probably would for many more. She began to pull her trunk down the platform to the front of the train and Roxy followed her lead.

"I have to go to the front for a while. Save me a space?" she asked sweetly.

"Sure," Roxy beamed and made her way into an empty carriage towards the middle of the train.

Lily continued to weave herself through the people who were seeing their children onto the train and passing luggage into the corridors. A child shouted loudly and she turned to look, there didn't seem to be a problem so she turned around again.

"Ow!" she shouted loudly, as she collided into a raven-haired boy. He was a good three inches taller than her and had the deepest hazel eyes.

"Lily," he said joyfully and she suddenly dreaded that she had left Roxy.

James Potter was a friend of Roxy's from when they had been about three. For the past six years, he had been trying to ask Lily out. To Lily, he was the biggest prat in the universe. She only put up with him because he was a good friend of her best friend.

"Hello, Potter," she moaned. She always made an effort not to say his first name.

"Didn't hurt you, did I?" he asked with mock worry.

"No—if you don't mind, I need to get to the front of the train," she wondered if he was purposely trying to stop her from passing through the last door.

"Oh, I'll come with you," he informed her, running his hands through his messy hair.

"No, you won't," she said.

"But I have to," he informed her with a large grin.

"I'm sure you can wait half an hour to see, Remus," she told him, noticing the confused look on James' face. "Apparently, Dumbledore is keeping all the old prefects this year as well as the new ones, so you'll have to wait to curse Severus to," Lily moaned exasperatedly.

"Yeah, but," he took from his pocket a shiny badge, not to different from her own. The only difference was that it said Head Boy on it.

"Where'd you find that?" she asked him, trying to make a snatch at it, determined that it wasn't his.

"Let's see," he pinned it to his uniform, that she was very much surprised to see him wearing. "It came about three weeks ago, along with my Hogwarts letter, that also said I was Quidditch Captain for Gryffindor," he informed Lily, trying to impress her.

"You're messing with me?" she asked hopefully.

"Nope," he said casually. "Aren't you pleased for me?" he pouted.

_Not really_. "Of course," she lied. He opened the door for her and she pushed the trunk in and placed it into the rack.

She looked around the carriage and was pleased to see that all the Prefects were there already. She settled herself beside a window and James joined Remus, who was looking quite tired.

"Hello, Lily," he said. Remus had mousy-brown hair, dark eyes and always wore his uniform correctly, unlike some of his friends.

"How are you, Remus," she asked, secretly wishing that he had been chosen as Head Boy. _What had been going through Dumbledore's mind during the summer_?

Lily got on with Remus, a lot better than she did with James and he at least had the experience of being a prefect. James Potter, along with his friend Sirius Black were known as the biggest trouble makers in the school.

"So, so," he mumbled. "Congratulations on the badge," he addressed both Lily and James.

"Thanks," she smiled happily.

"You want it?" James asked his friend. "Because you can have it," he went to unpin it from his cloak but Remus rolled his eyes and ignored the question. "Okay—but don't say I didn't ask," he looked back at Lily. "So, Lils. Go out with me?"

Lily groaned. "How many times have you asked now?" she asked, annoyed.

"This'll be number forty-seven," he told her, getting excited.

"Then for the forty-seventh time," she paused to keep him in suspense, "no."

James sighed and fell back into his seat. "You love me really. Roxy says you say my name in your sleep," he said and two girls turned to giggle.

"I'm sure I do not," she blushed. Turning away from him and muttering something under her breath. She made a mental note to kill Roxy.

A horn sounded that the train was about to leave and Lily felt the wheels move beneath her. She turned to look at the twenty-three prefects and one, Head Boy. She wondered if she was going to end up doing all the work this year.

"Quiet please," she shouted, and waited for the chatter to die down.

Remus nudged James in the ribs. "Shut up! Or I'll hex you," he shouted and then nodded to Lily as the students instantly stopped speaking.

"Err, thanks," Lily said unusually, "I think most of you know me. I'm, Lily Evans and I'm Head Girl this year," she was heating up. She had never been one to be able to talk in front of a lot of people. "I just need to tell you of your duties and changes made from last year—then you can all go back to your friends," she told them.

She looked around at the students and wondered why the school needed so many prefects, and all of them were there, staring at her. The eight fifth year prefects were there, the eight sixth year prefects and the seven seventh year prefects. Dumbledore was defiantly mad—the seventh years didn't normally keep their duties as prefects but this year, things were changing.

"Umm, well," she began, but couldn't think of what to say, "you have to," her voice began to croak with panic.

James stood up. "I'll take it from here, Lils," he informed her and Lily drew all attention from herself, away. She heard James speaking but decided to leave unnoticed.

She pushed her way through the carriages and eventually found herself in the carriage with the people she had been looking for.

"Lil!" Roxy exclaimed. "That was quick. You'll never guess what—well actually you probably will, but," Lily put her hand up to silence her friend. "What are you doing back, alone?" she added.

"I left James to handle it," she told them, as if it were a dream. She had to use his first name in front of Roxy or she risked being cursed.

There were two others in the carriage with Roxy Harris. Sirius Black, James' best friend and almost brother-like to James, who was grinning from ear to ear. He, like James, had black, messy hair, but had gray eyes, a sheer dislike for rules and was fancied by practically every girl in the school—including Roxy.

The second boy in the carriage was Peter Pettigrew. He resembled a rat in many ways. He was short, fat, had large teeth and followed James, Sirius and Remus wherever they went—he could be talked into doing anything. However, he was a decent bloke when it came down to things, liked to lurk behind events, rather than take part.

"There you are," a voice called from the door, as James stuck his head in. He pulled open the carriage door fully and walked in, closely followed by Remus. "I wondered what had happened to you."

"Well, you seemed to be doing a pretty good job on your own," she snapped.

"Yeah, I know," he boasted and Lily rolled her eyes.

After the group had said their hellos and had discussed their holidays, Lily turned her attention to staring out of the half-open window. The scenery had changed a great deal. Houses were sparse and the countryside was hilly and full of small lakes.

The trolley man passed through their carriage and James, practically bought everything. Lily had said 'show off,' at the time but when she had become quite hungry, she thanked him for the chocolate frog he offered her.

As dusk started to fall, the train began to slow down and Lily stood up, ready to be one of the first ones out, in case any first years needed any help.

The train pulled into a stop and Lily opened the door before it had even, completely stopped moving. She jumped onto the platform and students began to pile out.

"Firs' years," a loud voice shouted and an extremely young Hagrid beckoned them too himself.

Lily smiled to herself. In less than half an hour she would be back in the protection of the walls she loved. She began directing a couple of first years over to the boats and found her own way to one of the horse-less carriages that would take the second years and above to the castle.

"Lily," Roxy called from one of the carriages and beckoned to her to herself, with a wave of her hand. "Over here!"

Lily walked over to the carriage and sat in-between Remus and Roxy, whilst Sirius, James and Peter sat opposite. The journey seemed to take longer this year than ever or perhaps it was just because she was so eager to get back to the school that it felt that way.

The carriage stopped and Lily tripped slightly as she got out. James went to help her but she refused his help and he backed away. The two boys-- Sirius and Remus-- just shrugged.

The six of them split as they made their ways up to the castle. The four boys left Lily and Roxy, to Lily's great relief and they all sat down at the Gryffindor table, awaiting the sorting ceremony.

It came and it went—with very little fuss and Lily wished afterwards that she had attempted to listen. This was to be her last year at Hogwarts, and she had wanted to savor every minute of it—she had all ready forgotten her promise to herself and now the first day was over. Her last September the first at Hogwarts.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two:**

**First Date Back**

Lily smiled as she woke up. The sun was streaming through the curtains of her four-poster bed and a friendly group of faces were crowded around her. Along with Roxy, three others were waiting for redheaded, sleeping-princess to awaken.

Vicky Lewis was the first to wish Lily good morning. She had long, wavy-brown hair, pale blue eyes and a welcoming smile. The last two were twins, named Andrea and Ren Paine. They were identical; each had shoulder-length black hair, brown eyes and the same cheeky grin.

"Morning," Roxy said to her friend. It had been her who had drawn the curtains from her bed.

"Sorry we didn't wake you sooner, Lily," Vicky began. "You just looked so tired," the four girls backed away from their friends' bed and allowed Lily to swing her legs over.

Lily yawned. "That's okay—I needed a lie-in," she giggled and looked around.

"We'll see you, Lily—at breakfast," Ren told her.

"Yeah. I'm starving. Just can't wait," Andrea informed Lily and with a friendly smile the two twins left the three girls to finish their wake-up call.

"Unlike that pair," Vicky began with a giggle, "I can think of things other than my stomach. I'll wait for you," she said kindly.

Lily got out of bed and made her way to the bathroom. Usually, she would get dressed in the room but she felt that her privacy had been invaded enough. She smiled as she thought about what Vicky had said.

Lily had always been confused by Vicky and although she was not as good of friends with Lily and Roxy as they were with each other, she often tagged along with them.

As Lily got dressed, she hummed to herself. It wasn't a distinctive or known tune. It was just a couple of notes she had strung together. She made her way back into the dormitory—a smile on her doll-like face.

"Ready?" she asked Roxy and Vicky—who had been amusing themselves with a friendly game of rock-scissors-paper.

Roxy nodded and they both stood up, following Lily to the door. "Yep."

"I forgot to tell you. James is waiting at the bottom of the stairs-- I don't know why," Vicky began to inform Lily with a distressed smile. "He was adamant that he waited for you."

"I can only guess," Lily complained. Roxy began to open her mouth to give some kind of explanation but Lily raised her hand. "I don't want to know."

The three girls began to walk down the twisted steps that led from their dormitory. One behind the other—Lily in front and Vicky at the back—they made their way to the bottom and just as Vicky had said, there was James, leaning against the door with a superior grin on his face.

"Hiya's, Lil," he made no effort to move and his back hunched down lower as he stepped back, as Lily made an attempt to pass him.

Sirius was standing close by, half sheltered by one of the Common Rooms towering bookcases and half watching with interest. Sirius never had problems with the ladies. Sitting, on one of the run down couches, was Remus. He tried to make no eye contact with the girls and mumbled something under his breath.

"Move out of my way," Lily looked behind herself and saw Roxy, "James," she finished exhaustedly. Her efforts to make him move had been worthless.

"Say the magic word," James attempted to be clever.

"Which hex would you prefer?" Lily snapped back and both Roxy and Vicky made an, ah sound—very much like when a fight is about to begin.

"I don't know—one that makes me smarter?"

Lily ignored the comment. "Maybe one that reduces the size of his ego?" Lily enquired her friends. "Or perhaps one that makes his head bigger than it already is?"

"Lily, don't," Roxy began to warn her. James was looking too cheerful about what she was saying, to not have something planned.

"Maybe I should give you a present in return? To show my gratitude," James began, tucking his hand into his trousers. "You can have yours first—sorry girls," he added.

A mass of chalk powder filled the room and a few seated students began to cough, as well as James' and Lily's friends. As the mass of cloud began to clear, Lily could see Vicky pointing at herself but nothing more than a finger. Her arm seemed bent.

"What did you do, James?" Roxy asked him, her jaw dropped at the site of what had happened to Lily and the unknown Vicky. "How did you do it?"

"A little prank we've had up our sleeves since fifth year," James said proudly.

Roxy pointed out the effects to Vicky, who squealed. Roxy seemed un-changed by the powder. Both Lily and Vicky were standing on one leg, had one arm bent behind their backs and were linked together.

"You're lucky, Roxy," James said, his smile growing larger by the second. "If there had of been four of you—you'd be like that too," he glowed as certain Gryffindor's looked at him with disgust.

"I'll kill you!" Vicky screamed and she made a jump for James.

She toppled over and took Lily over with her, making a desperate attempted to unwind herself it seemed, as though she would never manage to tug herself away. James and Sirius began to laugh but Remus tried to keep away from the action.

"Stop it," Lily managed to shout at her friend. "You're making it worse," Vicky instantly stopped. "James undo whatever the hell you did!" she scolded him.

"Oh, I love it when a posh bird talks dirty!" Sirius shouted.

Lily growled. "I am not posh. You can shut up, Black. I'm sure you had something to do with this!" she tried to look up at James, as she and Vicky managed to stand with the help of Roxy.

"Er, well," James began and sent a glance at Sirius. He tucked his hands into his pockets and Sirius slipped away. "I don't know how," he said truthfully.

This time it was Lily who made a dash for James, Vicky managed to balance herself for a few moments but failed to keep it that way. Lily toppled onto James and the cold, hard wooden floors met Vicky.

"Ouch," Vicky muffled from her squashed position.

"So, this is a date then?" James added with a grin, trying hard not to laugh as Lily made an effort to roll onto the floor.

"Ouch," Vicky moaned once again, as Lily rolled onto her free leg.

"Sorry," Lily muttered into her ear. "You'll be hearing from my solicitor, James," Lily hissed as Roxy and Remus—who had come over to help-- pulled up Vicky and herself. She spat out a loose strand of hair from her mouth.

"You'd better go down to the hospital wing," Remus said in his quiet voice. "If you can?" he watched the two hopping girls with slight bewilderment.

"What about the time-tables?" Lily almost cried.

"I'll make sure it's sorted out," Remus assured her.

For a couple of moments, Lily looked as though she were about to disagree. Remus was trustworthy though and she knew that she could leave him for a while—it wasn't her fault.

"I'll help you down," Roxy began and the three girls hopped—Roxy tried to join in—over to the portrait hole and with some difficulty, passed to the other side.

"I don't believe him," Lily shouted as they tumbled into the hospital wing several minutes later. "Why—on the first day of school—did he have to do something so stupid? After yesterday. I honestly had begun to think he had changed. It's like he doesn't want me to be Head Girl!" she cried.

"I don't think that's it," Roxy said, as the two girls sat on the hospital bed. "I think he's just trying to get some attention," she finished. She then added, "or impress you," Lily glared.

"It worked," Vicky moaned. "Why'd he have to get involved?" she sighed and waited for the Matron, as Roxy called for her.

"Well, if he thinks for one moment that he's," Lily was cut short.

"Well, you are in a pickle," the Matron smiled from behind a curtain. "Don't worry. I'll have you fixed in minutes—and you'll still have time for breakfast," she added with a faint smile.

"Good," Roxy and Vicky said in union but breakfast seemed to be the least of Lily's troubles.

"What about James' punishment?" she glared furiously.

"When have you ever known them—yes, it's obvious Sirius was involved-- to get in trouble and care. It would be pointless—you have to admit though. You do look funny."

Lily stared in gawk. "You're taking their sides?" she said sadly.

"Well, they did give me some lovely chocolate biscuits last night," she handed them each a potion.

Lily raised an eyebrow suspiciously. _James was being nice_? Herself and Vicky both drank down the potion and the effects reversed instantly, with a small gurgle in the pits of their bellies. They clapped their hands together happily.

"Well, you'd best be going—so should I," the Matron turned and Lily slapped her hand against her mouth. Vicky suppressed a giggle with her hand and Roxy snorted. The back of the Matrons hair was changing colours like a rainbow.

"Innocent chocolate cookies," Lily mumbled.

The three girls left for the Great Hall. All praying that their first lesson would be something calm and quiet—for instance, the History of Magic or perhaps Divination for Vicky, as she took it and the others didn't. Just nothing with the Slytherins; James not being there would be a bonus.

The three girls jogged down the hallways down to the first storey of the school. Roxy told some kind of a joke, in which Vicky had laughed heartedly and Lily gave a pleasant chuckle, to try and make out that she had been listening. She was rather pleased to now be a lone human again, as all three of them hustled into the great hall.

James trotted over to the three girls and out of the corner of her eye, Lily saw Remus shake his head. Winking, James handed them all their timetables, balancing Roxy's on her head. Lily sighed slightly and ignored James' efforts to get a thank you.

"I guess we missed Andrea and Ren," Roxy said, as she scanned the seated students but her words were ignored.

"Does this mean that I am getting the silent treatment," James asked her as she went to sit down. He quickly pulled the chair out for her to sit on and she moved along to the next seat, making large arm movements as she sat down.

Lily poured herself a goblet of milk. "I hadn't realised that I spoke to you anyway," she held her nose firmly in the air and Roxy clenched her hands slightly. Vicky accidentally elbowed Sirius as she sat down and he yelped with pain, slapping her jokingly around the back of the head.

"Ah, come on, Lils," he cooed, "it was a harmless joke," he pointed out.

"Oh—I'm sorry," she replied, turning to face him and wiping her milk-moustache mouth. "When you say, harmless, does that mean we weren't supposed to make a trip to the hospital wing?" she glared at him, failing to notice that Roxy was tugging on her sleeve and ogling at her timetable.

"Well—it wasn't going to last. Supposed to anyway," he began. "Sirius said it would only be temporary anyway," he added in his defense.

"Oh. That's right," he growled slightly. "Blame your first and best mate," he grinned and went back to buttering what must have been his fifth piece of bread. Remus shook his head but was obviously smiling.

"Lily—lovers squabbles can be left until later—look at your timetable," she insisted.

Lily fumbled about at the paper. "Roxy. The day that I love him, snow will fall from the sky during summer," she huffed. Her eyes scanned the paper for a moment and she held her head back in horror. " No," she mumbled. "What is this world coming to?"

Everyone hates the first lesson of the day, especially on a Monday because then you have that added shock of the first lesson of the week. Nobody wants to suffer a double lesson, in a stuffy classroom with a dozen or so Slytherins—with the exception of James and Sirius, who could probably get some pleasure out of it—Lily was no exception.

The students began to leave their plates and cups and stream out of various doors in the halls. Lily kicked backwards into her chair and stood up. Her two friends and the three boys shortly following her, as she wasted no time in storming down to the dungeons.

Peter shortly joined them and for a moment, Lily was genuinely surprised, that he was bothering to continue the subject. The only reason he had passed in the first place was because Remus had tutored him. Good old Remus.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three:**

**The First Weekend**

Most of Lily's first week at Hogwarts, had been spent being told that this year was the most important year of her life. The Professors seemed to like scaring their pupils into thinking that if they didn't work hard enough, that they would end up working for the Night Bus. However, something like this didn't worry Lily, as she was a very able student, especially when it came to charms.

However, today was Sunday and this meant that one week was about to finish and another was about to start. Whilst most of the students were enjoying the end of the summer weather, Lily, Roxy and Vicky were all inside the Gryffindor common room.

Each of the girls had a small book in front of her and a large feathery quill. Vicky was eagerly listening to what Lily had to say but Roxy was staring out of the window, her eyes full of boredom.

Lily rested her hands on her hips. "Roxy. Did you hear any of what I just said?" she asked as pleasantly as she could.

"Yeah—Mondays are Transfiguration preparation days," she stated in her defense.

Lily pouted slightly. "All right. Now on a Sunday we—"

"—Go outside have a nice rest and prepare for the week ahead of us?" Roxy asked hopefully.

Vicky giggled. "Actually, I think Lily thought it would be best, to use it as a day to spend revising everything over the week—but I like your theory better," she told Roxy.

"Thanks for the support, Vic," Lily moaned. "All right—but don't you dare say it's too soon. You heard what the Professors kept telling us."

Roxy nodded. "You know what, Lily? If you weren't head girl and my best friend," she added, 'I would have gone long by now."

"Oh, thanks. You could have at least called me your friend first," the two girls burst into a fit of giggles and Vicky watched them wearily.

"I hate to tell you this, Lily," she stammered, "but your real best friend," she joked, "has just entered the building."

Both Lily's and Roxy's eyes snapped towards the open portrait space. Standing in the doorway with his hands on the beams was Sirius Black; already in the room were Remus Lupin and James Potter. Sirius jumped as the portrait began to close on him.

"Hello, ladies," he said, a huge smirk balanced on his face. Lily tried hard not to laugh. "Now. Why would three," James coughed and it seemed to be to make sure that Sirius was keeping his eyes well away from Lily, "pretty things like yourselves," Sirius continued, "be inside and not enjoying the sunshine?"

Lily was about to answer what appeared to be another Sirius chat up line but Roxy did so first. "Well," she began, "I wanted to but Lily seems to think that we need to start building up revision time tables," she gestured to the small books that Lily and Vicky had been writing in, her own was left neglected on the table.

"Avery good idea," one of the boys said and Lily had assured herself that it had been Remus. She looked up for a moment and realised that the scrawny Remus, was busily talking to Vicky. "Get it made now and you won't have to do it later," he added.

"You miss my point, James," Lily looked disappointed as Roxy spoke. "She actually wants us to start revising," Roxy rolled her eyes and stood up to walk towards James and Sirius.

"Okay—now that is a bit excessive," James looked down at Lily and her eyes squinted, slightly hurt and he appeared to have realised. "So that's the secret of Lily Evans' ability to pass all of her exams with flying colours," he began. "Start revising before you have even learnt the topics," he gave Roxy a nudge.

"Is that supposed to be a compliment?" Lily asked, apparently still unhappy with James and ignoring the fact that Roxy had mouthed something that looked very much like, 'please save me,' to the two standing boys.

Remus had now sunk into the couch opposite and appeared to be pleased about being far away from the suns hot rays. Lily was glaring at Sirius, who appeared to be watching Vicky interestedly, as she sat bent over her notebook and Roxy was whimpering playfully, beside the window.

For a second, Lily's face relaxed because James had wondered towards the portrait hole. She was about to question Remus about a particularly interesting topic that had been brought up in History of Magic on Tuesday but found herself being ignored, as James had started to speak.

"Right then," he exclaimed playfully, "who wants to come outside with me and actually enjoy themselves?" he asked sheepishly, emphasising his final words.

Roxy wasted no time and was by James' side in seconds. "Reporting for duty," she joked, "I have a earning to have some fun," she saluted her friend.

"Maybe you should have some earning for some learning," Lily mumbled under her breath, highly unimpressed with the fact her best friend would rather go outside, than to take revision tips from her.

"So—is that all?" James inquired, pouting his lips sadly and looking across at Lily.

"No," Vicky said suddenly, "I could do with a break—sorry, Lily," she added quickly.

By this time, Sirius had joined his mate's right hand side and Remus—sighing slightly—had also stood up and wondered over to the portrait hole. As Vicky stepped over the gap that the swung-back portrait had left, Lily could see that she had been defeated and joining them outside would be her only form of company.

As lily rested her quill on the table, making sure that the nib was hanging over in the air, she stood up and brushed her skirt slightly. All of the students except for Roxy, were now on the other side of the portrait, waiting to see if Lily would join them.

Roxy, apparently aware that Lily was getting ready to come with them, crossed her arms. "Will you hurry up? The time it's taking, we'll be waiting for you until spring," she moaned and there was a distinctive giggle from the other side of the portrait, supplied by Vicky.

"I'm coming," Lily replied, stepping over towards her friend. They both climbed out of the portrait hole together and Lily made a point of crossing to Roxy's left so that she wasn't beside James, he looked crestfallen but said nothing.

They walked gingerly down the hallway and down two flights of stairs until they reached the main entrance of the school. The main doors were so large; that it was easy for them to all walk out at the same time. Roxy looked relieved, as she took in a deep smell of the air as they wondered passed the courtyard.

Lily also seemed to smile to herself, as the six students walked towards the bank beside the lake. Peter, who appeared to have been waiting for them, scampered over to greet them, with what appeared to be a timid smile at Lily.

James eyed him suspiciously but realised that his silliest friend was no competition. "What have you been up to, Peter?" he asked curiously.

"Oh," the smallest boy mumbled, "nothing much—just scanning the horizon."

Everyone turned to look to see where Peter had been standing and when they looked in the direction that he had been previously looking, they could see that it faced the school bins. James snorted and even Remus couldn't help but to let out a small chuckle, Sirius patted Peter on the back and the three girls seemed completely deluded.

Sirius led the party of students to a shaded area of the bank and fell down into a seated position. He winced slightly, as he pulled a stone from beneath his bum and tossed it into the nearby waters. The others sat down in the same general area as he had done and each of them, ventured into his or her own thoughts.

Lily enjoyed the simplicity of silence but apparently, the two raven-haired boys, could not appreciate its delicacies and so had begun an argument. Lily however, managed to keep their voices shielded from her thoughts and was only brought back to reality when she received a short nudge from Roxy.

"Hey, dream girl," Roxy was stopped by Lily before she poked her again, "so you are alive," she added with a smile.

"James was ready to do CPR," Vicky said curiously, waiting for Lily's reply.

"I'd be amazed if he could even spell it," Lily said rather horribly.

James shouted suddenly. "Hey, what gives?" he asked, facing Lily with his cheeks slightly dented. "I've been nice to you today. Surely you have forgiven me about that little prank on Monday?" he said but sounded unsure.

It was true; James was being strangely polite to her today. "Of course I have," Lily stated, seeing Roxy shoot her a blinding glare, "but your intentions are never good, Mr Potter," she let out a huge sigh of air.

James replied quickly, "that's not true."

Everyone was now watching the two bickering seventeen year olds. Sirius seemed greatly entertained by the proceedings and Peter, who was beside him, watched with mild interest. Roxy appeared angry but at the same time, slightly pleased and both Remus and Vicky were biting onto their bottom lips.

Lily's fiery temper began to take the best of her and the usually sedated girl stood up. "Name one nice thing you have ever done for me, that wasn't an attempt to get me to go out with you," she moaned in a loud voice.

He stood up and she seemed unnerved by the fact he was almost looking down on her, not across at her. "I got you roses," he mumbled.

"On valentines day, last year—in an attempt to lure me to the boys dormitories," she glared.

"Chocolates—I sent you chocolates for your birthday," he argued.

"Chocolates that screamed out your name, every time I bit into one," James appeared to look defeated.

"Lilies. I got you lilies," he informed her," Lily stood back slightly and it showed that she was unsure of what he was talking about. "The day we finished our OWL's," he attempted to remind her.

Lily had no recollection of ever receiving any flowers on that particular day from James. "No, you didn't," she lowered her voice slightly.

James looked angry. "Yes I did. I think that I would remember if I sent you flowers or not," he glared up at the sun for a moment and sneezed surprisingly.

"Don't do that—you'll boil your eyes behind those glasses," she informed him, forgetting that she had meant to shout at him again.

"Oh," he stated, "like you care?"

"Okay—I was just trying to be a bit nicer but I guess that's just beyond me. Maybe you should just forget that I even exist because there is no way that I would ever go out with you. Surely you get that by now," she shouted.

"You know what, Lily?" he growled slightly but his anger did not seem to be shielding his hurt. "There would have been only one good reason for me to have kept my eyes and now even that one creature has turned from the petal into the thorn," he began to pace himself away from her.

For a moment, Lily had been generally impressed by what he had said. It was poetical and beautiful, that was until she realised that he meant her.

Roxy stood up quickly and started to run after James, "James!" she shouted his name as she left and Peter quickly jumped up to follow as well.

Sirius stood up and glared at Lily angrily. "Now you've gone and done it," he moaned at her. "He's going to lock himself in the broom cupboard and not talk to anyone, again," he added and Lily felt slightly guilty. It was the same thing that happened every time. She secretly thought that he enjoyed the attention but it only happened when she was involved.

Eventually, Lily was left standing on the grass with her face emotionless. Remus and Vicky both stood up and looked unsure whether they should speak to Lily or even ask her if she was okay. Lily shook her head after a while and then rolled her eyes.

"He'll grow out of it," she said uncertainly.

"You've been saying that for years, Lily," Vicky reminded her friend.

Remus coughed slightly. "I should go and see if James is okay," he mumbled, somewhat defensively. "But, Lily," he began timidly, "why did you lie about those flowers?" he continued to ask, showing that he was quite shocked by Lily's untruth.

Lily looked slightly hurt. One thing that she had never been was a liar. "Remus. You know me well enough that I would never lie—even to James," she informed him, "I honestly never received any lilies from him," she added.

Remus nodded and Lily understood that he believed her and in her eyes, Remus was the important friend. She couldn't care less if James Potter didn't like her, _good ridden_, in her mind. It would mean that he wouldn't stalk her every movement or pause to declare his love for her, at any god-given moment.

Remus had finally left and Lily was left standing beside Vicky, who appeared to be troubled by the proceedings. She appeared to want to tell Lily something but her face changed to show that she had decided against it. Lily took a quick, last-look at the lake and then turned back to her only remaining friend.

"So," Lily began, "shall we head back to the common room?" she asked.

"If you would like to," Vicky replied and Lily instantly began to walk back towards the school, without a reply

As they walked past the broom cupboard and into the school, Lily couldn't help but feel slightly responsible that James' friends were banging on the door to try and tempt him out. They continued to walk down the hallways and up towards the Gryffindor common room. Lily did not speak, as she was trying to persuade herself that James was just attention seeking and that he was not really as upset, as he was making himself out to be.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four:**

**Breaking the Habit**

Lily could not remember the last time that she had felt so rotten. It wasn't that she was poorly, in fact, she wished that the strange feeling in the pit of her stomach, were just a bug and not the emotion more commonly known as guilt. It had been trapped inside her for a good week now and although she would never have given into James' annoying habits, she would do almost anything to make the bad feeling inside of her, go away.

Near enough a week had passed, since Lily's last confrontation with James and at first, she had been extremely pleased to get the boy off of her back. The price had come quite high though and Roxy had not spoken to Lily from the taking place of the event, to the following Thursday, however, today was Saturday and both of the girls were friends again

It was quite an odd feeling. Being ignored by someone who had always gone out of his way— to attempt to strike up a conversation with her—was odd and in a way, she didn't like it. It was silly really. For years, Lily had tried to get through to James Potters head that she didn't like him and now that he had finally taken the point, she suddenly felt the urge to get to know him better.

Lily was trying to rid herself of the startling thoughts, by shoving her nose in a heavy, unabridged edition of, _The Origin of the Magical Race_. She had seated herself in the far corner of the library, near the statue of Sycamore and was attempting to cover up the fact that she wasn't really reading the book, just staring at the ink-filled pages.

Suddenly the shadowing presence of someone interrupted her non-thoughts and she was about to defend her reasons for being in the library. She knew that it was really beyond library times but it was the only place that she could find solitude and peace of mind when she was beyond herself.

The person who was hovering above her began to tap their foot and Lily lowered her book just enough to be able to see the person without moving anything but her eyes. They shone for a moment, just as they always did when she was about to speak with honey.

For a second her mind lingered and then she smiled. Remus had been standing there and she stood up to relieve herself. "Remus," she smiled.

He appeared to be biting on the inside of his cheek. "Lily," he replied, although his voice was soothing, there was something hidden between his tongue, "you've barely been in the common room all week. We've been getting worried. Lily stretched her back and bent down to pick up the bag that was resting beside her previous chair. It was pastel but multicoloured and she stretched the fabric to put her book away. "Alright. I was worried about you. I've never seen you so," he paused, "desolated."

She sighed and thought silently to herself. She did admire Remus. He always seemed to be hiding something but what? She could never quite put her finger on it. "I've just been thinking. That's all," she said.

He smiled timidly. "More than usual?' there was a sense of mock surprise in his voice.

Lily returned his smile. "More than usual," she nodded.

As Lily took a long time, fumbling with the knot on her bag, Remus waited for her patiently. He was obviously expecting her to return to the common room with him and secretly, she wondered what his true intentions were. _Surely he's just a messenger of James'?_ Seconds later she cursed herself. _Remus would never do such a thing!_

Lily quickly swung her bag over her shoulder and adjusted her top, as the bag had stretched the material up. The sickly feeling invaded her once again and she wasn't sure whether it was from a lack of food from trying to avoid a certain person during the evening meals or if it was because she was probably going to have to have a confrontation with him. It was no good. If she was going to get rid of this feeling, she would have to do something about it. _I'll have to make peace._

A voice invaded her thoughts. "Lily?" she looked up quickly to see that Remus was watching her curiously. "Shall we go?" he asked politely, apparently avoiding any embarrassing questions.

Lily wiped her cheek. "Oh, yes. Let's do," she nodded, beginning to lead the way forwards. "Sorry. I was—"

"—Thinking?" Remus finished for her and she nodded in response.

They continued to walk along the hallway and Lily realised that it must have been a lot later than she had thought it was. _No wonder they sent a scout to look for me._ She thought to herself, as they past the portrait of Ethal the Barbarian. The silence was starting to make her feel slightly tense, something that she had never felt around Remus before. She suddenly realised that it was because of something that Vicky had told her previously in the week. She smiled weakly.

"Is James in the common room?" Lily said quickly, almost trying to make the words unclear.

Remus' strides shortened for a couple of seconds, apparently considering her question with some thought. His cheek pouted to the side and the time that it was taking for him to give her an answer, appeared to last a very long time—too long.

"Yes," Remus said finally, "he is."

"Good," Lily responded blankly.

They were steadily approaching the portrait hole and were now barely seven feet in front of the Fat Lady. The corridor was eerily quiet and the lack of a response from Remus was just making the feeling a lot more hostile.

Remus stared at her unsurely. "I think you're a little tired," he pointed out but there was a smile on his face.

She shook her head as they waited for a minute outside of the common room. "Nope—well, yes—but that is beside the point. His strop has lasted double the length it usually does and it's getting tiresome," she began and Remus raised an eyebrow at her. "You can read me like a book, can't you?"

Remus smiled. "Just try to explain to him about the lilies. That's what annoyed him. If it looks like he's going to go off on one, I'll intervene."

Lily smiled. "Thanks. I won't do it straight away," she informed him, before looking up at the Fat Lady, who seemed to be looking a little impatient, and gave the password, "Heads House."

Lily swept into the common room with Remus closely at her heals. There were not many people left in the room—just a couple of sixth years that she wasn't really friends with, just acquainted by name. Sirius was messing around with something that looked suspiciously like one of the science sets her sister had received for her birthday. _I'll have to get a closer look at that at some point._ She wondered if it needed confiscating.

Remus had gone to sit opposite Sirius and Lily looked around the room for James, pretending that she was just checking that there was nothing out of order. Her emerald eyes then rested on a very sorry looking male, who was staring out of the window, allowing a very cold drift of air to pound through.

She began to glide over to him and wondered how she would ever be able to live with herself. She had always promised never to give into James Potter. It would snow in August before that happened. However, this was not necessarily giving in. This was a tactful approach to stop the nonsense.

Before she had even sat opposite him in the window box, James spoke without even looking up. "I take it you want me to close the window," he moaned, leaning forwards to do so, his long fringe catching in the breeze.

Lily's cheek dented but she had to look past the tone of voice and accusations. "No," she said clearly and he lent back. "No, you can leave it open if you want to," she added.

"I was closing it anyway," he informed her tensely, sliding forwards once again and firmly shutting the window.

Lily stood up and pulled the curtains across the alcove so they could converse in private. "What's all this about, really?' she asked him firmly, staring him in the eyes.

She could tell he was trying very hard to keep a straight face and suddenly Lily wondered if it was all a ploy just to get her to talk to him. He looked at Lily, then at the curtains and suddenly burst out into a fit of laughter. She tried to keep a straight face and wondered what the others would be thinking in the room. The sickly feeling returned.

"What's all this about?" he replied. "You're the one who's just shut us into a confined space," she noticed that he was raising his voice purposely.

Lily responded quickly. "So that we could have some privacy!" she exclaimed and he grinned wider. "No! That's not what I meant. Don't you be thinking that," she added.

"_I _wasn't thinking anything," he whimpered and Lily realised that that was probably true.

Lily took a deep breath. This was worse than she thought, although he appeared to not be sulking. She tried to think of the correct words to say but everything that she thought about saying sounded so very wrong when she but James into the equation.

"I just wanted to talk about last week, civilly," she added.

He scanned her and she felt rather small, folding herself against the wall. "Go on then," he replied, "I'm listening."

_A conversation is usually two people. _Lily thought to herself but she had to do it, if she was ever to enjoy a meal again. "Well," she began carefully, "about those lilies," she paused, expecting him to intervene but he didn't and so she continued, slightly appreciated by his silence. "I do believe that you sent me some now that I know, I really do," she was speaking very quickly, "but I really didn't get them—honestly. And I would have said thank you," she added.

"No. You wouldn't have," James said, playing with his shoelace.

Lily felt her temper rising. "Yes I would have!" she exclaimed, trying to keep her voice lower.

"I'm pretty glad you didn't get them."

Lily could feel herself glaring. _Like I had wanted them anyway._ "Why?"

James looked up, obviously wanting to see her reaction. "They were covered in sneezing powder," he informed her.

To her own surprise, she giggled, loudly. She leant her head back for a second and the curtains blew about. She quickly steadied herself.

Standing up, she pulled herself around the curtains and back into the main body of the common room. She smiled at Remus, who responded with a quick nod and began to venture up the stairs to the girls dormitory. She could hear the two sixth years speaking to each other and smiled attentively.

"Lily!" James called to her but she ignored him, hoping that she could say she was too far out of reach, if he asked her about it the next day. She listened for a second against the wall and could just about hear him say, "what was _that_ about?"

Lily continued up to her room, tiptoeing in case she woke anyone else up on the lower floors. She had decided that it was common decency, when in her first year she had been placed in the very first room and decided and early nights were very good things.

Now their dormitory was the very top room of the tower, as in their second year, they had been asked to move up there because a new seventh year had a serious issue with heights and vertigo. She smiled as she remembered the request.

Lily opened the door to their room and tiptoed along the floorboards to her bed. She was uncertain whether any of the others were still awake and so, pulled her curtains around her bed and quickly got changed. She pulled herself into her bed, deciding that she would have an extra wash tomorrow, and pulled herself under the covers.

"Where have you been?" Lily heard Roxy whisper from the bed nearest to her.

"Making peace with James, I think," she whispered back with a yawn.

"Good, Good," her friend responded but Lily could tell that she wasn't really paying attention and slowly drifted into sleep.


End file.
